


troublemakers

by samodivax



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: AU, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Awkwardness, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 15:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samodivax/pseuds/samodivax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Lady Cousland is a sheltered young woman who one day sneaks out of the safety and comfort of Highever to enjoy a walk in the outskirts of the city. To her dismay, she becomes acquianted with a Dalish Elf, and the pair are now stuck together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Saige](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saige/gifts).



Serena Cousland, without a single doubt, had a little habit of occasionally running away from the security of the castle and wandering the city as a normal person would. She was however always caught soon, despite her valiant efforts - perhaps the bright red hair and pale blue eyes drew attention, who would've thunk? Swearing to learn from her mistakes, on this particular late Bloomingtide afternoon, she chose a different route and a different destination.

The destination was something yet undecided, nothing particular really - maybe the coast, but one thing was certain - outside of Highever, no more visiting the market. Regardless of the dress befitting her stature, she successfully snuck out of the castle - at this time everyone was eager for dinner, drinking or taking a nap. Including the guards she effortlessly evaded.

Wearing a cloak over the gown, she pulled the hood over her eyes so the people who might stare would see less. The gates to the outskirts of the city were going to be closed soon but the steady flow of people going in and out of them gave her enough cover to escape. She was outside. This was real. It was happening! As the ball of excitement in her stomach began to grow, she calmly took the nearest route to the coast.

There were very few people around now, the farther she got from Highever's walls and all that surrounded them. By the time she reached the rather rocky, uneven and partially mountain-esque coastline, walking along it, the city had become the size of a large dollhouse. Feeling rather tired from the exhausting walk (what had it been, an hour, maybe more?) she looked for a comfortable spot to hide from the merciless sun.

Looking around, she saw something shinny from the base of single tree, not too far from where she was. It was rather hard to miss, being the only real tree around, and once she got closer she noticed the light was coming from a blade. A sword, to be exact, and a large one at that. Serena herself could wield a sword, but not even she had the strength to make use of such a large weapon. She sat down, leaning against the tree, and pulling the blade into her lap to examine it closely.

It wasn't anything like her weapons - this blade was unkept and possibly old. Possibly stolen. She played with the handle, wondering whose it was and where it was from. And where they were for that matter, too. She closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the waves crashing against the rocks nearby as her scarred hands felt up the blade's handle, studying it.

"Not a good time to be sleeping, thief." a toneless voice spok and as Serena opened her eyes and far too close was standing an elf, arrow ready to plunge into her from the short distance away. Her brow furrowed and she slowly put the blade aside.

"I'm no thief," she stated, "you're the one pointing arrows at me." She took a moment to 

"You're the one who was fiddling my sword."

" _Was,_ yes, and it was abandoned."

"It wasn't abandoned, it was set aside."

"You should've set it aside somewhere else."

"Not my fault you thieves find things you're not supposed to."

"I'm not a thief!" she raised her voice. "And you are still pointing weapons at a woman you've unfairly accusing!"

"That's because that woman is a _thief_."

"Ugh, just who do you even think you are speaking to me like this?"

"Too good to be spoken to by an elf? Not too good to rob one, clealry."

"That has nothing to do with it!" she yelled. "You know what?" she said in a brief moment of tranquility "I am done talking. Put aside that bow and fight me fairly!"

He quirked an eyebrow, and to both their surpise really, complied. He put the arrow back in the quiver on his back and hooked the bow to it.

As she fell to the ground, the air knocked out of her, she shot him a dirty look mixed with the discomfort she was feeling. "You... have no... idea... what you've... done, d...o you?" she groaned out as she was trying to regain her breath. In turn, his expression was stoic and he seemed to lack interest in conversing with her any longer.

Having finally regained most of her breath, "I'm nobility!" she nearly yelled.

"How is that my problem?" he crossed his arms over his chest, standing next to where she lay. The answer, came in the form of flickering lights in the near distance. He focused on them for a moment and recognized horses, and humans riding them no doubt. They were in a hurry, probably because it was getting dark fast. He looked down at her, "A search party?" he suggested.

She nodded in response.

"Best of luck to you then."

"Do not even think of leaving me out here!"

"By the creators, why would I _not_?" he growled as he turned his back to her and began walking away.

"Because I will otherwise direct them towards you and claim you tried to rob me!" he stopped dead in his tracks and studied the ever louder search party in the distance, then her.

The elf glared for a moment before picking her up over his shoulder and making his way farther from their pursuers. As she lightly bounced, and gave a disgruntled plea to be set down, she received only silence. Left with no other option if she would like to evade her would-be rescuers, she remained quiet and promised herself she would glare at him later.


	2. Chapter 2

Pitch black as the night was, Serena hadn't a clue where they even were. All she knew was that Highever was now nowhere in sight. Her companion seemed to navigate effortlessly in comparison, eyes not struggling with the surrounding darkness as hers. They'd walked side by side for what seemed to be an etternity since the sun's last rays vanished, dividing the load of whatever resources they had on them - she carried the bag, he carried his weapons.

"My name's Serena." she said eventually, in hopes of breaking the silence. He didn't respond. "You're supposed to give me yours now."

"Whatever you say Shemlena."

"What did you just call me?" she exclaimed, genuinely puzzled but intuition guiding her to believe it's an insult. Her words fell flat, silence once again building a wall between them. She'd given up on trying to speak to him, instead staring up at the sky until her neck hurt.

"I'm tired," she yawned "wherever we're going, can't it wait a bit?"

"Later." he cut her off.

"Why not now? And I still don't know where we're even going!" she whined.

"Do you see anything nearby?" he inquired.

"Um... no? Why, what am I supposed to see?"

"Do you see anything except wide open plains of nothing?"

"Uh... well, no."

"Do you see water? Fresh, drinkable water?" he was mocking her.

"No, I don't."

"When you do, that's when we can stop."

"Isn't it dangerous to travel at night, though?"

"Isn't it dangerous to travel with men you've never met before?"

"..." she felt the heat rise to her cheeks and ears, and went quiet.


	3. Chapter 3

She was tired. So unbelievably, remarkably tired! Her legs were going to give up from under her, knees trembling under the combined weight of her body and the suddenly heavy supplies she carried. She was cold, and hungry, and wished she'd been more responsible and taken something with herself when she'd left the comfort and security of the castle.

"Look, we really need to stop..." she groaned. "I don't know if I can last any longer." Surely it was going to be sunrise soon, they'd been walking for hours. He sighed deeply, putting their journey to a halt as he looked around to find a suitable place to set camp. It wasn't very wise to put a bedroll in the middle of the path they'd taken.

"Alright," he finally replied, "there's a clearing over there next to a few trees, we'll make camp for a few hours."

Serena's face lit up at the thought of sleep, and followed close behind.

The spot chosen was on top of something resembling a hill, a few trees growing freely nearby. The Coastlands weren't famous for lucious forests but rather for the vast, endless plains of seemingly nothing - no matter how fertile the soil proved for cultivation, wild grass could not compare to lumber and so exports from farming were their main profits.

The elf sat on the ground, back pressed against the trunk of one of the trees as he gestured for her to come closer. She gave him a puzzled look but complied, only to be greeted with irritation. "The bag," he clarified "hand it over." Her brow furrowed as she took it off and handed it to him, sitting down between the large roots of another tree, a bit farther from him.

He took off the rolled up bedroll and set it aside, then taking out a small rolled-up leather sheet from inside the bag. It was loosely tied with a thread to keep whatever was inside from moving out of place. He gestured to Serena, waving around the small package for a moment before passing it to her gently. She caught it and eager opened it, the contents awaiting inside being... oddly shaped sticks.

"What is this?" she asked, disappointment evident in her face.

"Food. I assumed you're hungry." he shrugged.

"I am, but what is this? How am I supposed to eat it?"

"With your teeth."

"Do I just take a bite out of it? It looks..." she was too tired to even challenge his audacity.

"If you don't want it, I'll eat it." without further persuasion, she took a bite from one of them. She cursed quietly under her breath as she tried to chew the impossibly hard meat.

"This is impossible to chew!" she fumed, having finally managed to swallow the bite she'd taken, despite how it got stuck in her throat for a second or two.

"Then swallow it." he payed her no mind, rummaging through the bag as she struggled with her meal.

"It tastes disgusting..." her grumbles didn't go unheard.

"Then mix it with some dirt if it makes you feel better." she scoffed and rolled her eyes at him.

As she ate - if it could even be called eating, the way she took small bites and grinded them weakly against her teeth until they were almost soft enough to swallow; he set up the bedroll and took a swig from a bottle before extending his arm and offering it. She gave him a distrustful glare before moving a bit closer and exchanging the dried meat she'd been battling with for the water. Truly, it was the liquid of life. Nothing ever felt as refreshing, tiny droplets spilling from her mouth as she eagerly lapped up the last of it, taking deep breaths after setting it aside.

Across from her could be noted the faintest glare. About to rise to the ocassion and defend herself, Serena stopped dead in her tracks as she realized she'd drank the only water they seemed to have. Almost guiltily, she lowered her gaze and only snuck a glance at him every now and them, a bit jealous he had no problem eating the hardened meat.

He whiped his mouth with the back of his hand before saying, "It's best you sleep now. I'll take first watch."

"You're not going to sleep?" she tilted her head slightly in confussion.

"Of course not, someone has to keep a look out for predators. Or worse."

"Worse than predators?"

"Shemlen." he hissed quietly. There it was again, that word he'd used earlier on. She was sure she'd heard the elven servants at the castle use it before but even then she hadn't quite grasped it's meaning.

"Right. Where am I supposed to sleep?" she was as eager to keep it short as he was.

"Wherever you want." she looked longingly at the bedroll next to him and pursed her lips. Then, she turned her back to him, clutching onto the cloak she was wearing to keep herself warm.

"You'll freeze like that." he stated after sneaking a glimpse at her.

"Then you should build a fire." Serena barked in response, wishing the blighted man had already done so. Is that not how camping out would usually go? With warm bedrolls, tents and fires to cook on? She'd always pictured it being more fun, the way her brother talked about his longer hunting trips.

"Do you want us to get caught that badly? We're not that far from your city's lands, just barely out of its sight." she didn't ask again. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on anything but the way her fingers were going numb from the cold.

"Elther," the elf spoke as she shook from cold, "my name is Elther."

"What good will that do me, Elther?" she hissed, jaw clenched tightly.

"You'll be warmer if you sleep here." he tapped the bedroll he was sitting on. She turned around to face him, giving him a suspicious glare as she remained still. "I don't have the time to bury a corpse," he added, once again tapping a spot next to himself "come."

Hesitantly, she made her way next to him, keeping a respectable distance. He rolled his eyes before scooting away from her, and only then did she actually make proper use of the bedroll. The first thing she noticed was how terribly stale it smelled, those old furs and rough-spun fabrics used to make that itchy, uncomfortable thing. But soon enough, she was warm, much warmer than she was before, and so she was grateful enough for that. She drifted off into blissful sleep, only to be woken up a mere handful of hours later.

Elther shook her by the shoulder, trying to get her attention. "Come on, it's your watch."

"Ugh, why do we even need to keep watch? Just shut up and sleep..." she could barely make out anything, her vission blurred, however she did notice he was shaking. He was cold. Oh. "Just..." she scoffed, desperate enough for sleep to disregard personal space. "get in here and sleep." He hesitated as much as her, maybe even more, before slithering in between the sheets, body pressed uncomfortably close.

Rather than lying down normally, perhaps because there wasn't room enough for that, the elf sat, leaning on the trunk of the tree behind them, about half of him under the covers. In a short-lived moment of charity, she took off her cloak and gave it to him. "Put this on," she mumbled "you're useless to me if you're sick."

Serena felt uncomfortable with someone so close to her yet the warmth of another body added to the cozy feeling, snuggled into the bedroll.

Without even realizing it until it was said and done, she nuzzled him as if he was part of her bed back home, a large muscular pillow perhaps, and snapped her eyes open in realization of what she'd just done. Her cheeks flushed, she tried to look up and see his face without moving her head, but to no avail.

Elther, on his part, felt little else but chilled to the bone from the blighted Fereldan temperature, and the nuzzle on her part went mostly unnoticed. He licked his chapped lips as he closed his eyes and fell asleep suprisingly fast, his breathing growing even and steady.

Moments later, Serena, pretending he didn't smell like sweat and dirt, drifted back into slumber, part of her wishing she'd wake up back in Highever.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt like barely five minutes when he woke her up, clearly displeased. It was first light by the looks of it, and she was honestly puzzled how someone who'd slept as little as him could wake up so fast. Elther scolded her for not keeping watch and risking both their lives, but she was too sleepy to pay attention. He shoved her lightly to make sure she wouldn't fall asleep again and pushed her off the bedroll. Now in the cold soil, she suddenly recalled where she was. Before she could snuggle back into the furs from before, he'd already rolled it back together and put it away.

She pouted and groaned.

"Not one sodding whine out of you, it's your fault all our water's done for. No talking, no crying and no privy breaks either. If we're lucky, I'll be able to ditch you in the nearest village and be on my way." the elf stated.

"Don't even think about it!" she snapped "Either a major settlement, or I'm stuck with you." he rolled his eyes. "Um... where are we going anyway?"

"None of your damn business where _I'm_ going."

"If you don't tell me I can't know where you're going to leave me!"

"Where do you think?" he groaned as he finished packing the rest of everything and looked around briefly, then continuing in the direction they'd taken yesterday.

Serena followed suite and looked around, trying to figure out where they were. They'd left Highever long ago, so she had no clue honestly, she didn't travel much. He was heading towards the sunrise so... east? What was east, what was east... they weren't that close to the coast anymore, he'd said something about it being too cold at night earlier, so ships willing to take her home on that day were out of the question. The Amaranthine sea was probably a few days away from them, but that would probably mean a week on the road with him, and she wouldn't last. So that left... oh, no.

Amaranthine was out of the question. She couldn't go there! The Howes were loyal to her family, true, but Arl Rendon Howe would delay sending news to them with days and spend the time trying to play matchmaker for her and his son Thomas. She recalled meeting the older one, Nathaniel, a few years back, and as decent as he seemed, she didn't like him all that much either. Couldn't they just walk to Gwaren or something?


End file.
